THE GOAN NETWORK
MARGAO
Not a single train has chugged at the Margao railway station since the 21-day lockdown
announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into force last week.
Not only the station platform wears a deserted look with railway movement across the country
coming to a halt, the Konkan railway Pre-Paid taxi counter just outside the station also remains
shut down and the 100-odd taxis parked at the station premises. The reason is not far to seek.
With the taxis business dependent on the movement of rail passengers, a lockdown of the
passenger trains has resulted in the shut down of the taxi operators, leaving the operators in the
lurch.
None of the 100-odd taxi operators had even a single customer since the lockdown came into
force. With the taxi operations their only source of livelihood, the operators and owners are
finding it difficult to make both ends meet. President of the Konkan Railway station Pre-paid
Taxi counter, Sandeep Arlekar said the taxi operators have been rendered unemployed since the
lockdown came into force last week. “We used to eke out a living on plying taxis from the
Margao railway station and support our families. We are indeed passing through difficult items
as the railway operations have come to a halt and so are our taxis”, he said.
Pointing out that some of the operators had replaced their vehicles by going in for new taxis,
involving the premium, besides other costs, Arlekar has made a fervent plea to the government to
come out with a package for the beleaguered taxi operators at the earliest.
